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As children mature, so do our conversations. New and more difficult questions are coming my way, ones that I must take time to think of good and honest responses to. The only thing missing is the teaching from me, as to when and where some of these discreet conversations should happen. I have learned I must do a little formation....of MODEST SPEECH: Not only what to discuss in public, but when and where. I believe I have stressed the importance of being open to any topic, to a point that other formative lessons were being missed.

Let me tell you, timing is crucial for these topics: It's not in the Walmart checkout line, while buying four kids' school supplies, at the same time as I balance writing my check, and keeping my Babe from pulling all the candy down from the shelves. That's not the time for any questions not related to our current supply shopping outing this morning with all five children in tow.

Having just recently visited my 89 year old Grandmother, I've been thinking about her often lately. During our visit we talked about my staying at home with my children, and how few mothers these days find ways to stay at home for the sake of their babies.

We discussed the idea of having versus needing, and that as a society we love to have. And in a sense, we might be losing what it really means to need. She, being the age she is, comes from a different time, when it was expected that a mother stays at home with her children, when working outside the home was reserved for the husband. Times have changed, no one can deny that. And in all honesty, I recognize how some mothers have no choice in the matter. To those women, my heart goes out to you. I can't imagine being able to give enough to a full time job, while at the same time wondering how is my baby. Is she crawling yet? Did she say her first word, or take a first step today? I think I'd be a poor employee, c…

Yesterday, was errand day. I had so many things to get done before a some big events come up in a few days, and I hadn't gotten to them. So yesterday, I took all five children with me to do my errands.

Let me set this up for you. See, I rarely take all five kids anywhere these days. I get my errands done on the weekends or evenings, when HH is home, and even then, I simply take one or two children with me. I guess it had been a while since I had whole crew with me, and I should have expected the responses that I got yesterday, I just wasn't used to it anymore.

I guess I didn't think too much about it, because my kids are really well behaved when we run a few errands. They trudge in and out of stores with me, finding new and interesting things to look at or play "I Spy" when waiting in lines. I no longer fear taking my crew with me places, as their ages allow for much more flexibility when out and about. The older children hold the younger ones hands in pa…

For the Stay At Home Mom at Work, life consists of finding joys in all the small victories we see around us.

It's probably why I like the Small Successes I try and do every Thursday or Friday. Those small victories are like fighting small, little battles each and every day...and indeed there's progress there. There's momentum, there's something deeper happening around us, and being women, we tend to see it, and it makes our day, each and every day, have purpose, have meaning. In essence gives us motivation to keep fighting those little battles. It gives us, as mothers, a role, a job, purpose, yes, something beyond just the dirty dishes, laundry and diapers.

Let me explain.

Small victories are like putting Babe down for a nap without crying or whining.
It's when I try a new recipe and the whole family gobbles it up, and even asks for seconds.
It's when I see one of my children conquer their 9 year nail biting habit, with the reward of fingernail polish.
It…

As the last bits of our basement playroom project get finished up, I couldn't help but to dance around the room barefoot for a while, sing a happy tune, and hug HH for such an accomplishment. What a project....a full year from start to finish. Remember clearing out that basement? All the purging?
Remember our massive garage sale?

And now, we have doors and trim and just the other day, carpet. It's turning into quite a nice big playroom for the children, and I've never been so excited to organize the games, the toys and finally have a home for all their play things.

With such a massive undertaking, with such a large room, we took our time ....a full year that is, to properly save the money necessary to make this room look like one more part of our home, instead of some room we added on. We tried not to cut corners. We made every effort to match our doors to …

Yes, I am aware it's not the 4th. July 6th just doesn't have the same ring to it. However, we are still singing patriotic tunes around the house, and it still FEELS like our nation's birthday. Here's just a few fun memories from our 4th of July, parade, picnic and fireworks.

(All photos in this post are the property of the S.tay A.t H.ome M.om at Work. If you would like to use, please contact me. Thanks!)

Over the years, we've had our occasional run in with a variety of pests in and around our home. We expect it, I guess, as there are so few natural predators to control the population. I really believe, these animals only need our intervention when they are destructive or a serious nuisance to our lives.

Cases in Point:

1.) Chipmunks. If you are a regular reader, you'll recall my battles with the chipmunks last summer. After those little ones tore up my deck herb garden a few too many times, I declared war on these furry creatures. I think I finally won that battle, as fourteen chipmunks were successfully relocated from our property. This summer we are at only three. But that could be because of our next problem animal. The Raccoon.

2.) Raccoons. Last summer we planted a nice plot of sweet corn in our garden. Raccoons are pretty smart animals, as they waited until the corn was at it's best, then in one night, demolished the entire crop. It was difficult to wake u…